Which to use
“noyau” and “noyer” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #6,118
- “noyau” frequency rank
- #9,204
- “noyer” frequency rank
- 15322
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | noyau | noyer |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Partie centrale, dure, d’une drupe et qui contient une amande. On oppose le noyau au pépin de la baie. | Nom usuel des arbres du genre Juglans, Grands arbres à feuilles caduques alternes imparipennées, aux petites fleurs femelles verdâtres réunies par deux à quatre et donnant des noix (drupes indéhiscentes). (note : Utilisé seul, en Europe francophone, le mot noyer désigne généralement Juglans regia ou noyer commun, noyer royal.) |
Where the eye mixes noyau and noyer
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between noyau and noyer
A purely visual mix-up. noyau (\nwa.jo\) and noyer (\nwa.je\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 15322, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
noyau is recorded at frequency rank #6,118, classified as anoun, pronounced \nwa.jo\. noyer is at rank #9,204, tagged as anoun, pronounced \nwa.je\.
Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.
With a confusion score of 15322, this pair ranks #392,855 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of noyau vs noyer
Shared letters: noy. Private to "noyau": au. Private to "noyer": er.
"noyau" · 5 letters · shape CVVVV · "noyer" · 5 letters · shape CVVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "noyau" for "noyer" ever safe?
Which is more common, "noyau" or "noyer"?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "noyau" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "noyer" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #392,855 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "noyau" and "noyer" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "noués vs noyer". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #392,855 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.